Ultimate is one of the best ATARI 8bit internal upgrades ever, invented by Lotharek's great friend, Sebastian Bartkowicz aka Candle`o`Sin - http://spiflash.org/ . Instalation of this upgrade takes me approx. 5 minuts and even rookie can handle it at home - without finding a professional technician and extra costs!
It's easy, it's simple, it's FUN! Also, in the present version some fixes were applied in comparison to the initial release. Now it's 100% "safe and sound". Of course, what would be a bundle of wires without software support ?
Dear all, it is about time to visit AtariAge / AtariArea forums, isn't it? :-)
Features
As solderless as possible (only RW, PHI2, HALT and RESET lines need soldering when MMU and OS rom are socketed)
fully flashable SpartaDOS-X with up to 320kbytes for its purposes
Real Time Clock module for SDX with battery backup and NVRAM
fully flashable 4 OS ROM slots
hardware WRITE PROTECT for the whole Flash array
configurable memory expansion with 4 modes of operation (disabled, 320k RAMBO, 578k COMPY SHOP, 1088k RAMBO)
customizable BASIC and MISSLE COMMAND slots (also flashable)
compatible with all XL/XE machines (600XL needs 64kB of RAM first)
Inside BOX :
high quality Ultimate BOARD
HARTING MMU ADAPTER 20 IDC Female cable
HARTING OS ROM ADAPTER 28 IDC FEMALE ADAPTER
4pin connection cable
fitting items
INSTALLATION STEP BY STEP:
Disclaimer:
If you are not familiar with soldering or you do not have proper tools, please LET a pro technician do it for you or send me your ATARI BOARD for installation. Upgrade installation cost is $25.00 only. Contact us to arrange installation.
Please remeber - wrong tools usage or low skills may damage atari and ultimate; any damage/harm to your hardware is NOT subject of any kind of warranty.
Installation is easy, but unexperienced hands can do a lot of damage. Please, do not ask us questions about WHAT HAVE I DONE WRONG WITH THE INSTALLATION - answer will be always the same - We DO NOT KNOW
locate MMU (20 pins) and OS ROM (28 pins) and their pins no1
General rule of pin identification
If Your chips are in sockets:
Remove MMU (20 pins) and OS ROM (28 pins) chips from their sockets
Insert flat cable with "chip-adapter" side into MMU and OS ROM sockets ( RED STRIPE cable indicates PIN 1 of removed chip)
Make proper 4wire connection of ULTIMATE with CPU- CLICK
Connect flat cables with "IDC-side" to ultimate board ( RED STRIPE cable indicates PIN 1 ultimate connector)
Fix ULTIMATE PCB inside Atari
If Your chips are not in sockets:
desolder MMU (20 pins) and OS ROM (28 pins) from atari pcb
Solder sokcets into atari pcb (sockets are not supplied by me)
Insert flat cable with "chip-adapter" side into MMU and OS ROM sockets ( RED STRIPE cable indicates PIN 1 of removed chip)
Make a proper connection with supplied 4wire cable between ULTIMATE and CPU - CLICK
Connect flat cables with "IDC-side" to ultimate board ( RED STRIPE cable indicates PIN 1 ultimate connector)
Fix ULTIMATE PCB inside Atari
READY! You can power on Atari, enter setup (HELP + RESET) and adjust all you want!
DISCLAIMER: WE ARE NOT THE AUTOR /OWNER OF BELOW SOFTWARE. Links are hosted by FJC. All below updates shall be considered as 3rd party and not supported by AOTL.
Q: I saw a battery on the pictures of Ultimate, what is it for? A: Ultimate has a battery backed up RTC, so your XL/XE will get a current time and date on every restart and not the year 2000 ( after settings in Sparta DOS - commands DATA, TIME)
Q: Will Ultimate work in 600XL? A: Yes. as long as 600XL has 64kB of RAM
Q: I have stability issues... Numen freezes... A: Sometimes, in some setups it may happen. Making ultimates cables shorter helps.
Q: Cannot load *.ATR files with SIDE CONNECTED A: Enter Ultimate bios and set following options. Press "S" to save config. Press and hold "L" to load from SIDE.
Ultimate One Meg Upgrade for Atari 8-bit computers
This upgrade gives you a meg of ram, several flash-programmable O/S rom slots, several Basic rom slots, a battery-backed-up real-time clock, a PBI interface integrator for use with the Side2 cartridge, and integrated Spartados X disk operating system. As such upgrades go, it is ridiculously easy to install, requiring just four solder connections - provided your MMU and OS/rom chips are already socketized. I've got TWO of these Ultimate 1mb upgrades combined with a Side2 cartridge each. Each has a 16gb compact flash card acting as a mass-storage device that puts even the CSS BLack Box to shame for speed and capacity. If you want to see it in operation,telnet to techccs.net 10001 and see for yourself.
** TNM **
